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Talking Boony

Really Late breaking News: Tim has cracked Da Boony Code and is now offering a mod-chip service to Pimp Your Boony! Freakin’ Awesome!

Not so late breaking News: Read out how ‘n’ why Boony is Back from the Dead!

In an effort to get to the bottom of the Boony mystery I have started the Facts Of Boon page and the Reverse Boonjaneering Project. Please contribute all you can to these noble causes. Or pledge your respect in our Homage to Talking Boony…Last update: 01 Sept 06, 9:17am

BoonAs a whipper snapper, David Boon was by far my favourite batsman. And even though he was um, plump, he was the fastest runner-between-wickets in the Australian side. That’s pretty impressive. So when I learnt of the “Talking Boony” marketing ploy by VB, I had no choice but to ignore my taste buds and purchase a carton - I strolled out of the local bottle-o with a slab, a bubble-wrapped Boony statuette, and the instructional leaflet that accompanied him.

“How do I make it talk?”, I thought to myself “And why would it be so difficult that I’d require an instructional leaflet?”. The answer left me dumbfounded. Dumbfounded and incredulous.

Apparently, see, you put Talking Boony in your lounge room, near your TV. When you are watching the 2006 one-day series, he will respond to “audible signals” and add in relevant comments! “Audible signals”! This was amazing. In all my television watching and product buying days I’d never seen anything like it…

Analysing Talking Boony

Talking Boony was whisked back to the laboratory for thorough analysis.

It became obvious that to figure out the mystery of the Boon, an autopsy would be necessary. However the leaflet clearly stated: “Do not unscrew the Talking Boony base. This will cause the unit to malfunction”. It was certainly an ominous warning - it didn’t say “it may malfunction” it said it WILL malfunction. I resisted pulling it apart…

Inside David Boone

Deep inside David Boon…Resisted for about 10 minutes! Unscrewing the base revealed one thing - the only malfunction caused was that David Boone could now move independently of his base. The warning is a mere scare tactic aimed at those who’ve grown attached to their Boony.

Inside I found a circuit board with a microphone and speaker attached, as well as 3 AAA batteries. The circuit board has 4 microchips on it. It also has a big blob of black stuff, which I assume is there to hide a fifth chip that would contain all the Boony goodness.

Circuit BottomI had a google of the visible microchips. There are 2 amplifier chips. I guess one amplifier is for the microphone, to amplify the input signal, and one is for the speaker, to amplify the output signal.

I have no idea about the others. Maybe timer chips. Maybe.

We have ways of making you talk

As there was still a couple of weeks till the first one-dayer, I thought I’d see if I could get Boony to react to some “audible tones”. I found a couple of simple tone generators on the internet, and subjected Boony to blips and buzzes in all frequency ranges (well, only from 20hz-20000hz as I can’t imagine many people would have TVs that would actually transmit beyond that range)

Circuit TopBoony wasn’t saying nothing. His will was strong.

Unfortunately for me, my patience is short. While trying to stuff the boony guts in to my suitcase for a pending flight, I dislodged a wire from the battery terminal. This was bad. Real bad. The instructional leaflet said Boony would be activated on the 13 of January 2006. That meant Boony knew what date it was (or at least, how many milliseconds he had to stay asleep for)

I reconnected the wire. But I had a sneaking suspicion I had just murdered David Boon.

The Big Day

It seemed like eternity, but the big day arrived. Sri Lanka vs Australia. Boony’s time to shine.

But my Boony said nothing. Not a peep.

The words circled my brain, taunting me… “Do not unscrew the Talking Boony base. This will cause the unit to malfunction.”…. “This WILL cause the unit to malfunction….”

I got a text message from my mum saying “Our Boony just talked, and the cricket hasn’t even started yet!” The Boonys were waking up all around Australia.

nice cutDuring the match there indeed were “audible tones”. They sounded kind of like 2 modulated sine tones. Though it might just be my dodgy TV capture card that made is sound modulated. You can have a listen to a boon.wav file that was recorded by a couple of highly skilled, and strikingly beautiful assistants in the laboratory. Try playing it to Boony and see what he thinks.

It sounded like the same tone was played each time, so Boony just said stuff at random. From all accounts he says many hilarious things like “Get me a beer”. And, “Isn’t it funny that I’m an alcoholic?” or something.

Retired Out

Boony had surely won this epic battle against me. I am not sad. He was a formidable foe. And I know nothing of basic electronics. Things aren’t as bad as they seem, either. My folks inform me that Talking Boony may be sold out in the eastern states, but Western Australia is weeks behind the rest of the country and will surely have Boonys available. My new and hopefully undead Boony should be here before game 2.

More updates, as they come to hand….

[people who enjoyed this post, also recommend Jolly Good Cricket]

 

366 Responses to “Talking Boony”

  1. i reckon it’s tied to a timer

    mine spoke and the telly wasnt even on

    -frank arrigo
  2. 13 Jan talking boony quotes
    Time to get a beer, crickets about to start
    Got a beer yet ?
    Show us a replay of that (x2)
    Show us a replay of that (x1)
    Anyone seen my thongs?
    Show us a replay of that
    When’s the drinks break?
    I’ll drink to that
    Got any nachos, I love nachos
    Now get me a VB, the crickets about to start
    Where’s my beer!!
    Today’s code word is bat (X3)
    I feel like playing table tennis!!!

    -mark
  3. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!

    Have been wondering all day why Boony has only said a couple of things. Played the “sound” to him and he works beautifully, so I moved him closer to TV….now when the bleeps come up with VB sign, Boony works as supposed to!

    -Christina
  4. Hello…

    I have just tried the sound to Boony, but there was no reply, even though he has been responding to them on the TV today…

    I tried After 10:30 (The original scheduled end to the telecast) so I wonder if they just switch off when the cricket was supposed to be over? (As they would have been pre-programmed months ago).

    Anyway, some poeple elsewhere are claiming that their boonies are saying things every over, and even comments that are specific to the coverage at the time, but mine seems to follow the general ‘random stupid comment’ philosophy.

    Still, good for a laugh every so-often, but could have delivered so much more…and VB could have really kicked a goal if it was what everyone had hoped.

    Cheers.

    -Gaz
  5. The plot thickens! There seems to be 2 elements at play… During match times Boony seems to make occasional random comments regardless weather the TV is on or not. The “blip blip”s trigger him to say more stuff. But some of the Boonys don’t seem to react very well to the signal (maybe the batteries are flatter or something) - in our highly controlled test conditions we have 4 boonys - One is “chatterbox” Boony who talks constantly. One is “quiet” Boony who says things randomly, but doesn’t seem to react to blips. The other 2 do nothing! We are contacting VB for information and will keep you posted.

    Another interesting thing regarding the timer - In W.A. the timer seems to shut off after the game finishes in Eastern Standard Time - so if there is a delayed telecast Boony seems to stop speaking.

    All this could be totally incorrect, however. Can anyone shed more light on the mystery that is Boon?

    -Mr. Speaker
  6. Yep, I’ve definitely had Boony talking at random moments, no TV on. No cricket being played anywhere.

    -Rob Irwin
  7. I am such a fool. I thought that the talking Boony was just a simple ‘press-a-button-and-talk’ toy. Alas,how wrong was I. Why didn’t I get one? I feel very much left out.

    -Manton
  8. Mr Speaker…(Man that sounds weird!)

    Can you please explain the ‘Chatterbox’ boony?

    I have seen on other forums that some seem to actually comment on a Shot, good ball or whatever…but I have only seen this posted once or twice. Most seem to only get the reactions tot he Blips.

    Again, I can only hypothosise that different networks (or states, cities etc) broadcasts have different signals for Boony…VERY interested to see what response you get from VB.

    Regards,

    -Gaz
  9. To clarify what I meant by different “Networks”, I mean Channel 9 in Syd, Melb etc, or WIN TV in Regional areas (where I am)

    -Gaz
  10. Try connecting your boony back up to the batteries about an hour before the cricket starts. I have had the batteries out of mine and this got it working again. Don’t know if this the correct thing to do, but it worked for me.

    -Jase
  11. UPDATE! In an effort to get to the bottom of the Boony mystery I have started the Facts Of Boon page. Please contribute all you can to this noble cause.

    -Mr. Speaker
  12. I have found that my talking boony appears to say random things at random times. There appears to be time influenced sayings, but after reading your forums, I have two theories…

    1, Perhaps the bleeps initiate a delayed response in boony…? Tried the boon.wav file three times, and nothing happened. I then continued to watch the cricket and about 40 minutes or so later, boony said three things in a short period (”where’s my thngs?” “when are we going to the pub” and something else. This was on 15/1/06, around the 35/40 over mark)

    2, The correct combination of bleeps initiates boony to talk. Mine has talked inline with the bleeps, but definitely not after EVERY bleep.

    I am keen to see what VB says….

    DPOK

    -DPOK
  13. *UPDATE* The boony i had the batteries out of only worked the night i did it, it has been mute ever since. Now, the tones they send out that you can hear are 7000hz then 8000hz and back to 7000hz. Using tone generator software and playing a tone at 7000hz and 8000hz at the same time will make him talk, but this doesn’t work all the time.

    -Jase
  14. Hey dude,
    Showed your site to my brother-in-law who is into electrical stuff and heres his comments. Not sure if this sheds any further info on what makes Boonie tick:
    ——————————–
    it must have a timer which is permanently connected to battery and the the chip under the blob of epoxy is the heart of it possibly a “pic” chip or a more elaborate mircocontroller.
    ====================================

    It seems to get further into the Boonie mistery, you might need to try and remove the goo!

    JMTC
    Molly

    -Phillip Molly Malone
  15. great blog. There is certainly a timer at work on the Boonie Doll as he has spoken at various times without the TV on and in various enviroments. He only talks though when a match is on.

    Further, I have not been able to get him to react to the audible tones, on various TV’s and positions.

    From my research I believe the doll has an audible receiver as claimed, however, as a fail safe, the techs at CUB have also incorporated a timer chip to ensure that Boonie is activated at appropriate times, and on a random basis during these times should the audible reciever not be functioning as it should.

    What further makes me believe this is his code word. On the first one dayer, the commentators said listen out for the word, and low and behold, Boony came through with the word shortly after. However, I had the tv off for the second match, and he said the word anyway!

    I love him all the same!!

    -Boony fan
  16. I think we have a new species of Boonie that has evolved somewhere in between the Quiet Boonie and the Chatterbox Boonie. I have called him Boonus Randomnus. He reacts to the beeps on the cricket coverage - sometimes, but he has also be known to react to Dr Quinn Medicine Woman on Hallmark, Fawlty Towers on UKTV and Fight for Fame on Fox8. I have also noticed he likes talking to himself in dark rooms when there are no lights on and the television is turned off. I shall continue in monitoring this new species of Boonie……

    -Rebecca
  17. Tested my Boony with the Tone generator and it didn’t set him off. Will try it again on Friday. Interestingly the tone generator saves to wav files so it should be easy enough to distribute the file to more people for testing.

    Also wonder if it is timor based to only go while the cricket is on, whether something will happen after the cricket is over.

    JMTC
    Molly

    -Phillip Molly Malone
  18. That mustache looks… familiar. Is Boony Merv’s cousin or something?

    Please excuse my ignorance- i know nothing about cricket.

    -chuffed_enuff
  19. The Television needs to on for Boony to talk as Boony likes to be watching the cricket.

    -Alan
  20. Fri 20th Jan
    Prior to 2:30pm tried the tone wave file and nothing happened, Boony doesn’t say anything.

    At 2:30 he spoke on his own accord.

    Now after 2:30 and with the tone wave file he talks on demand! Beautiful

    I’ll drink to that!

    -Barry
  21. Just tried 7000hz + 8000hz for 150ms… Boony talked on demand for about 8 goes….sweet…

    Maybe there is a “reset” tone?… or have I killed the second love of my life??

    -BOON BUSTER
  22. My Boony (ordered from eBay, I couldn’t live without one) arrived this morning. About half an hour before the cricket started, he said “Get a beer, the cricket’s about to start”.
    Been fiddling with that tone generator, can make him say “He’s seeing ‘em like watermelons!”, “Where’s me beer?” and “Quack, Quack, Quack.”

    -Shmoo
  23. My boyfriend and I just got our boonie doll from his dad (who drinks lots of VB). Nothing has happened during the whole game today. I’ve tried to get Boonie to speak with the wav file provided this blog site … any suggestions for someone with no idea about electronics?
    cheers

    -Chris
  24. I had my Boony on tonight during the Aus/SA match. He didn’t respond to all the beeps, but he did to probably 3 in the second innnings. Also before the second innings he said “Time to get a beer, Cricket’s about to start”

    Tonight, quite a few hours after the match and at the suggestion of Ben T, I downloaded the Tone Generator program and set the thing up as directed, but alas my Boony is a Mute!

    My flatmates were watching a DVD while the first innings was on and they said it talked a few times then, so I think the timer theory is spot-on. I am irked that I can’t make my Boony talk when I want.There has to be a hack, maybe circumventing the microphone input?

    -Matt
  25. I reckon he won’t talk outside the designated time of a match. I couldn’t get him to work this morning using the wav. file, but during SAf’s innings it worked like a charm so give it a go during tomorrow’s Sri Lanka- Australia match.

    Talking or not, it’s still a collector’s item!

    -Shmoo
  26. My Boony experience is similar to that of everyone else, definitely a timer, kicks off with ‘Get a beer, the cricket’s about to start’. Funny stuff considering he said it at 10:30am in Perth :)

    I can only get mine to talk on demand via the tonegen after Boony says something at random (without the TV - stuck in the office) Plus the tonegen only works for a minute or so and can’t be forced to speak until another random comment.

    Another guy in the office has one and his talks heaps more than mine. I hope someone can unlock Boony soon so he talks on demand.

    -Klacker
  27. Assuming Klacker is my colleague, Klacker and I played with our Boony’s all day at work which was excellent fun. I reckon we would have given the whole office a laugh, but annoyed the crap out of others, as we repeatedly played the Tone Generator and WAV file right throughout the day.

    What I learnt from our testing is that each Boony has numerous “Talking Windows” with a possible fixed or variable length. Therefore when the cricket provides the tones, you have to hope that your Boony is in talk mode. This could explain why people are saying that their Boony’s are responding to some TV tones, and not others. Furthermore, this could also explain how some people say (like Klacker) that their Boony does not talk as much as others, as we never know how long our Boony’s Talk Window has been open for prior to hearing him speak in that particular Talk Window.

    Other points of interest is sometimes when my Boony was in talk mode, the Tone Generator would trigger one comment, and the wav file would trigger a second comment. This implies that for any given “Talk Window” Boony could say any number of comments, depending on the tone received.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  28. He will say some things that have been pre-programmed into him, such as “grab a beer, the cricket’s about to start” which they are probably programmed to say so many minutes before the game starts. He’ll also say the codeword 3x. Yesterday’s was “cheers”.

    -Shmoo
  29. To Summarize …

    Boony has a clock (est).
    Boony does not appear to talk outside of game days.
    Boony “wakes up” without a tone signal on game day.
    Boony does not talk between waking up and the start of play.
    Boony has some sort of “Talk Window” that responds to tones.
    Boony can respond differently to at least 2 different tones per Talk Window.
    The number of responsive tones per Talk Window varies.
    Boony has a fixed or variable amount of Talk Windows of a fixed or variable length.
    Boony talks without receiving a tone. (from time to time).
    Boony “falls asleep” at the end of the scheduled match time.

    Boony continues to work after he is opened.
    Boony appears to stop working on subsequent game days after the batteries are replaced.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  30. I’d like to hear if anyone has a “chatterbox Boony”, and how often they talk. I think mine is a quiet Boony.

    -Shmoo
  31. To Jase (or Anyone Who Has Had The Batteries Out …)

    Your experience above advises that you had your batteries out on a game night, and continued to work for that night only.
    Have you tried taking your batteries out again (on anyday), and testing him with the WAV file and Tone Generator at different frequencies; for a lengthy period of time ?

    Another farfetched theory of mine is that when Boony is first powered by the batteries the clock starts to tick for the first time at a predefined date. If our Boony’s were subjected to quality control and therefore some type of testing, then it maybe possible that the first day the Boony’s are powered they are put into “Talk Mode” for x amount of time.

    This theory could explain why Boony talked immediately after the batteries were removed and replaced.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  32. Testing Boony

    For those that want to test their Boony to see what type of Boony they have, I suggest that you use the Tone Generator to create separate tone signals.
    eg Make a wav file for individual frequencies in the range of 9000hz - 5000hz and fire them at Boony during game time over a period of at least 1/2 an hour. You will soon learn what frequencies your Boony responds to, and possibly how frequently.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  33. To Talk to me Boon -

    I had the batteries out for around half an hour and reconnected them an hour before the cricket started on Friday. Boony didn’t work during the game, but came to life at 22:05 that night.

    -Jase
  34. Ok Raiders of the Talking Boony, some cool updates! Talk To Me Boon has done some great work in expanding his Grand Unified Theory of Boon, and I think he’s nailed it with the “talk window”. Hopefully today there can be some serious tone-testing to find more details on it.

    Also, as detailed in the facts of boon page, there have been some successful attempts at reviving a dead Boony! Though now this “Loony Boony” thinks the cricket starts at 1am everyday.

    (And, Chris, if your Boony has never said a single word, then I’d call up Fosters and ask them if there is anything you can do - don’t forget to write back here if you find any tricks though!)

    -Mr. Speaker
  35. Well I have done very little testing but after reading this site (thanks everyone by the way) I have turned my once shy boon into a chattaboon. Here is what I did:

    Sat him in front of my tv when he said get me a vb cricket is about to start.
    Got pissed off when after the first beep he said nothing.
    Ran the tone generator, managed to get him to say four random comments (mainly get me a beer). then nothing
    All the while the cricket was still on and boon was sitting in the suggested spot.
    after about 10 mins (after using tone gen) he said a random comment.
    ran tone gen again, he said about 6 comments (different ones this time) then once again nothing.
    Got pissed off and grabbed myself a beer and sat down to watch the cricket.
    now he is saying comments that sometimes are relevent to whats going on quite regularly.
    No explanation on how it works but i do believe I have unlocked the inner chataboon in my once shy boon :)

    -to_boon_or_not_to_boon
  36. Hope the following helps get to the bottom of the mystery of Boony:

    I put Boony through his paces and found that he responds to a single continuous tone with a frequency between 7552 Hz and 8646 Hz. Guess those numbers will vary a little bit from unit to unit!

    The tone needs to be at least about 25 milliseconds. It does work if the tone is as short as about 20 ms, but it’s not as reliable.

    -Voda
  37. Voda is that a tone of any single frequency in that range, or a tone that moves from one to the other?

    -Matt
  38. Matt, a tone of any single frequency in that range…. though I haven’t tested them all!!

    I narrowed it down after first trying rounder numbers like 7000, 7500, 8000, 8500, 9000, etc.

    -Voda
  39. wow, I can’t believe how fascinated people are with their boonies!
    seems like some clever people have already pieced together most of the facts on the talking boonies, but for the record:
    Boonie is on a timer that is programmed to AEDST (hence some of the problems with delayed matches in Perth). He ‘wakes up’shortly before the commencement of each ODI match. He then goes ‘back to sleep’at the end of the match (reason being that the three AAA batteries inside wouldn not last the whole summer if Boonie was activated all the time). Boonie will only talk and react to the frequency triggers during those times the unit is activated (when an ODI is on). The timer chip is programmed to go off at random moments and also to say what the day’s codeword is (you can then enter the boonanza competition to win prizes with the codeword). Boonie should also react to the frequency triggers - a little chirp that sounds when a replay comes up accompanied by a VB logo and also during the VB ads. It doesn’t matter where you are watching (eg Nine Metro, WIN, etc.) because the signal goes through the feed. Boonie would even work overseas if you were tuned into the cricket live! They are however a little tempremental so it is best to move them around the room until you find a spot that seems to work the best. There are 3 different triggers, each with a group of phrase words attached. Boonie will say a random phrase out of the group depending on which trigger is activated. One group relates to bowling, another to batting and the final group is random. So depending on whether the replay is focusing on batting or bowling, usually the trigger activated will say something in line with what you are seeing and hence create the feeling that boonie is commentating.
    If you want to know anything else, post a question and I will check back soon and hopefully be able to answer.

    -Boonie Authority
  40. Ah cool Boony Authrority. Is what Talk To Me Boon said correct about the Talk Windows?

    -Shmoo
  41. Glad to see we now have a Boony Authority on board.

    To start with, I have 2 Boony’s - WA Boony and NSW Boony.
    The results of my 2 Boonys in action today are …
    WA Boony reacted to 2 frequencies at most, while NSW Boony reacted to 4 frequencies at most; per “talk window”
    (each frequency reaction gave a different comment: per Boony)
    NSW Boony appeared to have more Talk Windows, and longer Talk Window lengths than WA Boony.

    Both Boony’s said the same non-tone generated comments
    WA Boony would speak about 1 minute before NSW Boony.

    Time to get a beer, crickets about to start
    signalling the wake-up
    Got any nachos, I love nachos
    signalling the 1/2 break between innings
    both Boony’s became unresponsive !
    Now get me a VB, the crickets about to start
    signalling the start of the second innings
    and more talk windows
    I feel like playing table tennis!!!
    signalling the end of the game
    both Boony’s went back to “sleep mode”

    Unless other people advise otherwise, I definitely think that our Boony’s are preprogrammed with definite comments for specific times of a non interupted game, as opposed to just delivering no-tone random comments at random times.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  42. To Boony Authority

    Will our Boony’s continue to work at the end of the ODI fixture ?

    Will Boony work within 12/24 hours of changing his batteries everytime ?
    If yes, How long for ?
    If no, Why would Jase’s Boony come to life again within approximately 12 hours of his battery reconnection ?

    -Talk To Me Boon
  43. I am living in Bangkok and the boon has said a few random things but doesn’t seem to react to the TV. We get 9 coverage through S. Africa but I am guessing the VB beeps wouldn’t be altered. Will try the tone generator and see. Boonie Authority….will there be a Talking Merv next season???

    -Thai Boony
  44. Wow! An Authority of the Boon! Are there any “boony backdoors” so we can get him to talk during non “talk windows”?!

    If we have, perhaps unwisely, opened our boons and killed him - is there anyway to start him up? There appears to be a 24C01A EEPROM chip that controls boony - any tricks we can do to that to wake him up?!

    If Boony talks, and no one is around to hear him, does he still make a sound?

    -Mr. Speaker
  45. Hey guys, thought i could shed a little more light on the whole boony thing, i work in a bottle shop and during ODI’s we set up a boony choir and also random boonies all over the store. some interesting things that i have noticed are.

    Some frequencies all boonies will react to and say the same thing at the same time while others only certain boonies will react to which makes me think that if there is noise coming from the telecast while the frequency is being played it may interfere with the frequency

    the timed comments are random but all seem to happen at around the same time, these periods are pretty funny as there are boony comments flying from everywhere

    one very amusing boony phenomenom i have had the pleasure of witnessing is the talking box of boons, over a hundred boons in boxes talking incesantly.

    will endevour to get a recording of the tone and play it to the boony choir

    -42 Beers
  46. Hey Boony Authority,
    I really want to know if Boony will open up after the series finishes. Also, is there anything (read fuses or something) that stops us hacking it?

    Great idea!
    Molly

    -Phillip Molly Malone
  47. I heard that the boony’s voice is that of an actor and not the real thing. Does anybody know?

    -Thai Boony
  48. Yeah I heard that somehwere too.

    -Shmoo
  49. ok, a bit of work to do here!
    I should point out that I am not a tech, so I don’t quite understand a few of the comments about talk windows but most of the other q’s I can help with.
    I should start by clarifying one of my earlier comments that Talk to be Boon has picked up on - when I said ‘the timer chip is programmed to go off at random moments’ I meant moments where there was no trigger to cause the reaction, ie. all the Boonies have been pre-programmed so that even without a tv or a tone gen you will get some satisfaction! All Boonies have the same timer programming complete with the same comments. However, any difference between a NSW and WA Boonie, or Boonie from any other state, is purely incidental. Whilst there were different batches made, none were created for individual states. This would have been a logistical nightmare and as I said before, they are all programmed to AEDST.
    Sadly, your Boonie will not continue to work at the end of the ODI fixture.
    I don’t know if Boonie will work after changing his batteries each time, but it is likely to throw out all his programming. The Boonies were quality tested to begin with so Talk to be Boon’s theory on the Boonies starting to tick at a pre-defined date seems correct. I will need to follow this one up to be sure.
    Boonie should work fine with the tone gen Thai Boony - as long as you test it while an ODI is in progress. It should also work with the TV but you are probably having the same issues as most other people.
    I don’t know about any Boonie backdoors, but I highly doubt any exist and I don’t know if anything stops you hacking it.
    Molly, not sure what you mean about Boonie opening up. He doesn’t have a machine gun if that’s what you’re asking.
    Boonie is not voiced by Boonie.
    As for Talking Merv, you will have to stay tuned on that one…

    -Boonie Authority
  50. Mine only worked for one game. Crap Boony?

    -Shisus Boon
  51. www.accure.com.au
    try these guys,they seem to have given birth to a taswegian (BOONY)
    ps .my boony follows most of the theories outlined obove also.

    -mark
  52. POINT OF NOTE.dont tamper with the BLACK BLOB, ITS hisVOICE BOX,just pulled apart my supercheap auto v8 door bell it has a similer blob for the trick sounds,so take care or you may end up giving him an electronic treaceotamy ,owie.

    -mark
  53. Thanks for the reply Boonie Authority.

    My discussion surrounding WA Boony vs NSW Boony was more aimed at labelling my 2 Boonies - but thanks for the state vs state clarrification anyway.

    A “Talk Window” is a length of time that our Boony’s respond to triggers (TV/ToneGen). These “Talk Windows” appear to open (allows response) and close (disallows response) numerous times throughout an ODI.

    The Quality Testing.
    I know you have said that you are going to follow up on this topic, but can you also address the specific questions below.

    Approximately how long after a Boony first had batteries in him did the quality testing take place, and for how long ?

    My Theory is that after the ODI fixture is complete and our Boony’s permanantly go back to sleep, it may be possible to wake our Boony’s again by reseting the timer.
    (by disconnecting / reconnecting the batteries)
    The timer reset would then allow us to utilize the period of time that was used for Quality Testing.
    If Boony activated himself within a relatively small number of hours of having batteries (for quality testing), then every time we wanted our Boonies to wake up, all we would have to do is keep disconnecting/reconnecting the batteries and wait the specified time it takes for him to wake up and be quality tested.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  54. Using the Tone Generator

    Try using the following settings

    Sine1 Start Frequency: 8500 hz
    Sine1 End Frequency: 5000 hz
    Sine Duration: 300 ms

    For my Boonys, after lowering the start frequency by 100 for each test, this resulted in …

    Below lists the Start Frequencies.
    While testing, it is critical to keep the end frequency and duration constant.

    WA Boony.
    Greater than or equal to 8000 — Comment 1.
    Equal to 7900 — Comment 2.
    Less Than or equal to 7800 — Silence.

    NSW Boony.
    Greater than or equal to 7900 — Comment 1.
    Equal to 7800 — Comment 2.
    Equal to 7700 — Comment 3.
    Equal to 7600 — Comment 4.
    Less Than or equal to 7500 — Silence.

    notes:
    Assumes Boony’s talk window is open.
    Comment 1 and 2 are not necessarily the same for each Boony.
    I have only used rounded settings - specific frequencies will apply for best results.
    I did not get all frequencies working in all talk windows.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  55. Ok guys, just some thoughts…
    #1 If boony is set on a timer, then this timer needs to be set. Otherwise think about it, how many boony’s are out there? Lets say there are minimum 5,000 if there was no way to set timer then 5000+ boony’s needed to have their batteries connected at the same time which be an impossible task. So there must be a series of tones to set the timer.

    #2 If boony is set off by a timer hitting a trigger, then there has to be a way to manually set this trigger off.

    I am by no means an electronics guru, but i have worked out where the timer circuit is, just need to work out which one the trigger is which may take me a while as i dont want to bust boony.

    -Jase
  56. Jase, the battery reconnection theories are all coming from what you experienced - the fact that you disconnected/reconnected your batteries, and after a period of time your Boony woke up.
    Do you recall how long he woke up for, and what did he do. Did he say random comments, did he respond to tones …

    Also, do you think that you triggered the timer when firing tones at him.

    Assuming you still have a sleeping Boony, have you removed/replaced the batteries again ? If so, did he respond in the same way ?

    -Talk To Me Boon
  57. - Talk to me boon,

    I removed them and reinstalled an hour before the cricket the other day and he came to life after 10pm the same day. I haven’t tried disconnecting them since. He responds to the tones ok once he does wake up.

    -Jase
  58. Jase - So did he respond on Sunday’s game …
    Is he a dead Boony, or does he still wake up.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  59. Jase (based on your previous thoughts #1 and #2)

    Given Boony Authority has advised that the Boony’s were quality tested, it still is possible that a battery reset could have reset the timer/clock, which induced the Activity Boony for quality testing. After the testing was complete, the testers could have set the timer/clock for production via a tone as you suggested.
    But the testers could have also triggered Boonie’s test mode via a tone too.

    Hopefully Boonie Authority will shed more light on the Quality testing process.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  60. No boony woke up too late to catch the game, but he was talking most of night until morning.

    -Jase
  61. I took my NSW Boony on holiday to Darwin as there were two games being played up there during my stay. Boony went of half an hour before the game started at 12.30pm with the comment ‘Get me a beer the cricet is about to start’. So I guess that dispelles the theory that there are different Boonys are made for different states. Also I had the hotel room TV switched off and Boony still chatted away. I even had the TV switched to the Discovery channel and Boony was still making comments. I have two Boony’s and have placed them at different positions around my lounge room in Sydney. Looks like I have a Quiet Boony and an Indifferent Boony (speaks lots sometimes but others keeps his mouth shut).
    Patiently waiting for next seasons Talking Ritchie or Talking Bill Laurie!!!!

    -DGC
  62. Something I forgot to mention - my mate got his Boony around mid December and he was talking from the minute he opened the packaging and has continued to talk at all times of the day and night. He resorted to putting Boony outside at night because Boony was keeping him awake - another version of Boony? - maybe Psycho Boony

    -DGC
  63. OK something wierd happened this morning. My boony always wakes up on cue at 1:30 on game day, but today he woke up at approx 11am! Then at about 11:40am he asked me for some nachos but the game is still over 2 hours away. What has happened to my precious?

    MY PRECIOUSSSSSSS?!?!!!

    -spootle
  64. Hey Boony Authority,
    What I guess I meant will he just talk after the one dayers are finished. Can I suggest that you might want to consider giving us Boony Fans a way to either electrically hack it (for those willing to do it) or if it is available, the queues to make him work after the 1 dayers are over. It would be a great PR hit, in my honest opinion.

    TIA
    molly
    http://www.mollyzine.com

    -Phillip Molly Malone
  65. I agree with Phillip, I’d love to hack my Boony so he could talk whenever I want after the VB series is done.

    -spootle
  66. Update on early wake up Boony:

    At 12:46pm Boony asked when the drinks break is, he then responded to the tones responded above until about 1pm when he asked where his thongs are and has stopped responding since. I hope he still talks during the match, if he’s still awake by then, at this rate he’ll be wanting to play totem tennis before the lunch break!

    I wonder what caused him to wake up so early today when he has woken up at the right time on every other match day?

    -spootle
  67. 1:47: Boony “woke up” for the second time today. WTF??

    -spootle
  68. My Boony woke up early today too. I have used the tone gen as follows
    Sine 1 start 9000hz
    sine 1 end 5000hz
    sine duration 4000ms
    Works well during window. He has said
    “looks out from here ump”
    where’s me beer?
    quack quack quack
    (also the nachos, thongs and drinks break comments.)
    Lovely!

    -Thai Boony
  69. 3:33: Today’s code word is Stubby.

    I’ll try and see what he says tonight for the code word, it could be different since he has woken up twice?

    -spootle
  70. Boony controversy!!!!!!! boony makes a drug reference!!!!!
    while experimenting with the tone generator boony said “oh thats a good pill, very good pill”

    Start freq 11339.29
    End freq 10000
    Duration 500

    Play it a few times to get it to work

    -42 Beers
  71. Tut-tut 42 beers - that ain’t no drug reference! Go brush up on your cricket banter/vocab! Boony was mearly tipping his hat to a sterling bowling effort. Though, I’m at work and my wicket alert hasn’t moved for a while, so it couldn’t have been that good of a ball…

    You’re not playing the tones to your Boony Choir are you? Can you record that?!

    -Mr. Speaker
  72. my mexican boony also woke up early today ,and wanted to play table tennis by three pm. hope he wakes up coz my mates are coming to hear him natter away
    anyone contact www.accure.com.au yet???????

    -mark
  73. Hey ppl, i love the boony doll but mine seems just to quiet! is there anyway i can make him talk alot more? i’ve heard that some boonys work like every 10 mins or so…? my boony is about 2.5m directly in front of the tv so should i move it somewhere else or in any particular position that would help? thanks heaps :)

    -Jase_34
  74. jase-34
    try moving him around the room, make shure ya got the volume up a few more notches than normal.
    1-2 comments an hour is what mine does .although ,he has done 3 a minute not watching cricket
    has anyone else thought he may be triggered by mobile network signals, (3 the phone telco does sponser) just a way out there idea…??????????

    -mark
  75. contacted http://www.accure.com.au/ personally with e-mail, am awaiting reply .????

    -mark
  76. hi mr speaker son, loony had his battery removed today to try to get him to speak at a realistic time you know how i hate to be woken up by children coming home at 1am. will let you know the outcome.

    -loonies dad
  77. My 2 Boony’s woke up at 11am today as well (NSW and VIC Boony’s), as we had a team meeting at 1:30pm I took one along (Chatty Boony as I call him) at 1:45pm “Get me a VB the Cricket is about to start” So Boony was added as a Guest to the meeting minutes 8-)

    I’ve found that the tone only works during game times, 2pm - 10pm, outside of that it’s only the preset. I can trigger Boony during game time with no hassle with the boon.wav, turn down all equalizer settings, and leave the 2nd last one as 1/2 way.

    Stereo Boony if you are sitting the middle and they happen so say the same thing at the same time, rare that happens, but freaky.

    TV seems to have reduced to 1 beep now, and Boony is rather quiet! I get more fun out of him at work than watching the cricket.

    I believe Boony needs to have a holiday!

    -Tom
  78. Boonie woke up early today because at time of manufacture, it wasn’t known whether today’s game would be a day match or a day/nighter. Given today’s match did not feature Aust, you will also find he was powered down approximately every second hour to save batteries, so less talk windows.
    Now…some useful information on the whole timer piece. Boonie is actually quite smart and records the time every 5 minutes. Therefore, if you take his batteries out he will be behind schedule by however long his batteries are out for. Given Boonie is only programmed to work up until the end of the ODI season, this would suggest that Boonie’s life could be extended if you only put the batteries in when you wanted him to work. The catch being, he would obviously have to be inside a talk window. Maybe you could wait until the start of a game, and pull his batteries out once you know he is inside a talk window. Then replace batts whenever you wanted him to chat. Don’t know whether that theory stacks up but I will have to see if one of you techs like Talk to be Boon shreds this theory or not. Alternatively you could find a way to reset the timer…don’t ask me how to do that!

    -Boonie Authority
  79. I’m curious to know how Loony Boony was created, I want to make my Boony talk all the time!

    -spootle
  80. Once again, thank you Boonie Authority for more info.

    Thanks for the explanation about today. I had suspected that it was relative to what type of game was played today vs how Boony was programmed, but was not completely sure about it.

    Okay, it looks like I have lost the battle to make use of a Boony Quality Testing period; unless it can be triggered via a particular tone at anytime, but I doubt that is the case.

    However, assuming we are still not missing critical facts, I believe we can extend our Boony’s life to infinity (based on Boonie Authority’s new input)

    As Boony Authority suggested, all we have to do is remove the batteries at a key time and insert them when we want him to talk. If we were to pull the batteries again before another 5 minutes ticked over, our Boony’s time stamp would not change, and therefore Boony would be suspended in time forever.

    At this point I do not know what that would mean for our Boony’s, relative to what he says.

    Obviously, in his current form, pulling the batteries and re inserting them would be a hassle, but this maybe worth it to those that want to keep Boony alive. However, as Klacker has suggested to me, for those that can do it, or want to pay for it, it may be possible to attach a switch that can be used to control the batteries. It may also be possible to attach a switch and a timer, that manually wakes him, and turns him off automatically before the next time stamp is recorded. Unfortunately for me, i’m no electronics wizard.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  81. To Boonie Authority.

    “Alternatively you could find a way to reset the timer…don’t ask me how to do that!”

    Are you implying there IS a way to do it ?
    Can you give us any clues without giving it away ?
    Can you at least answer the following … assuming a reset is possible…
    Is the reset based on a special tone received, or is an electronics guru required ?
    Ok, enough on the secret reset :)

    What can you tell us about the rest of the programming.
    Are there any more days like today (Tues 24th) ?

    “you will also find he was powered down approximately every second hour to save batteries, so less talk windows.”

    Does this imply that on other game days when our Boony’s do not respond to tones or say random comments, that he is actually powered down to save batteries? Hence what we are now referring to as a talk window, is just the fact that he is not powered down.
    So in effect on game days, our Boony’s just power up and down throughout the day - is this correct ?

    Finally (for now), will there be a game day (like the finals) that he is powered up for the complete game ?

    Thanks Again …

    -Talk To Me Boon
  82. Actually, we may not have lost the battle on utilizing the Quality Testing Window afterall.

    After a reset - Maybe Boony turns into Quality Control Boony until a certain timestamp has been recorded or special tone received or …… and therefore, maybe Loony Boony IS Quality Control Boony !

    So Mr Speaker - can you reveal the exact details on how one can create Loony Boony - as discussed on the facts of boon page.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  83. So boony keeps track of time…
    Ok well that explains the eeprom inside boony, but still leaves the question how is the time set in the first place?

    -Jase
  84. Hi,

    I have a “Quiet Boony” that only respondes to the automatic-timed sayings. He really hasn’t said much else unfortunately.

    Although, during yesterdays games (SL vs Sth Af) I put on my dogs collar. The dog started running around the lounge room. Boony went crazy! I think the little fella thought the dog was going to eat him or something - but “Quiet Boony” turned into “Loony Boony” all of a sudden. For about 5 minutes he didn’t stop talking.

    Unfortunately I had to go out, so I’ll test “Dog scared Boony” again next game. He obviously was reacting to the ‘clinking’ noises of my dog’s name badges, etc … jingling around his neck.

    Interesting …

    Damo …

    -Damo
  85. Good luck Loonies Dad, um, I mean, dad (I can’t believe you’ve posted to a blog!) - according to Boonie Authority though, it sounds like Loony Boony should be under control.

    I have some interestin’ news for people with dud boonies - I had one (”shy boony”) that had never said anything - not a word. I pulled him open yesterday and tested the circuit board with a multimeter - and i found the batteries where supplying only 0.9v to Boony, instead of the ~5 volts it should have been.

    I swapped the batteries over from my initial boony kill, and the “shy boony” is now “regular (i.e. quiet) boony” - Hes no Chatterboon - but I’m beginning to thing Chatterboons are defective.

    The 0.9v must have been enough to power the timer stuff, because he seems to be in time with the game (unconfirmed).

    I’m still testing trying to make a Loony Boony - apparently though, there was a pin disconnected on one of the chips - when this was re-soldered, Loony Boony was born. I can’t see any unsoldered pins on mine, but I’ll keep hunting!

    -Mr. Speaker
  86. I have had me Boony since 1st match.Like others here have reported,he triggers random comments via a internal clock.Half hour or so b4 the game he always says ” get me a V.B the cricket bout to start” & ” I feel like playing table tennis ” at end of game & he goes to sleep till next game.The Boony.wav supplied by Mr.Speaker DOE”S work for my Boony,but only on days of play(tiss that clock thingy again”.The tone generator DOE”S work,by adjusting freq. range he will trigger diff comments,but again only on game days.Using both the tone generator & boon.wav he will trigger every time,but after a few comments he seems to like to have a rest for 2 minutes.hey,it must be time for a V.B.!

    -Shane
  87. Hello fellow Boon enthusiasts.

    My Boony does not speak very often. He is a sad Boony. He is a surly Boony. He speaks when alone in the dark, with no TV on. I have tried placing a VB near him. He does not repay my generosity.

    His first comments came prior to play commencing as I arrived home from work (two hours early) to enjoy Boony’s wisdom. The TV was not on.

    Boony has made only one play-specific comment, labelling the Sri Lankans ‘boring’ during their first dismal batting effort against the Aussies.

    Boony has not reacted well to the audible prompts. Surly Boony couldn’t give a stuff if he’s is supposed to talk. Surly Boony looks out for one person. Surly Boony.

    -thedoctor
  88. hey boon team,
    just got off the phone to the http://www.accure.com.au/ people,very helpful, but alas no tech info ,
    also contacted fosters in melbourne,no help ,BUT they have a COMMENTS LIST,YAY.Unfortunatly cuold not get a copy,
    SO I Ask any one who i a smoother phone caller than i to call up and sleeze a copy, happy hunting.

    -mark
  89. “Pass me a biscuit please. A Monte Carlo would be nice.”
    Absolute champagne Boony

    -Thai Boony
  90. so using the tone generator alot during game time helps the quiet boony become a chatterbox boony? i’l try this tommorrow (26 jan) has anyone had this happen to there once shy boony? i’m trying to get mine to talk more!

    -Jase_34
  91. Just a thought, but maybe “chatterbox boony” could be created by watching cricket on a DIGITAL TV. Could the tone be a lot more pure/chrisp? I have tried it on both analogue and digital… Boony did seem to respond to the tones more often on DTV. Just a thought…

    -BOON BUSTER
  92. To Talk To Me Boon,

    I don’t know whether the timer can be reset or not - if it can, I don’t know how to do it. What you are saying about the talk windows relating to when Boony is powered up or down is correct. The Talk Windows are simply those times that the unit is powered up to respond to the triggers.

    On the 7th Feb Boony will wake up at 10am but most other game days he will wake up at 1.30pm…so depending on what time I hit the post button, he should be going off any second now.

    -Boonie Authority
  93. and this is what he will be saying and the times he will be powered up:

    1:30 TB: Hey, get me a VB the cricket’s about to start
    2:15 TB: Anyone seen me thongs?
    2:15 5:45 Match time (EDST)
    2:30 5:45 Unit active
    3:30 TB: Is it time for a beer yet?
    4:55 TB: When’s the drinks break?
    5:45 TB: Got any nachos?
    5:45 7:15 Unit asleep
    6:30 10:00 Match time (EDST)
    6:45 TB: Hey, get me a VB the cricket’s about to start
    7:15 10:00 Unit active
    8:20 TB: Where’s me beer?
    9:00 TB: Todays code word is “thirsty” (repeat x 3)
    10:00 TB: Random event phrase
    10:00 Unit asleep

    The time in between each ‘unit active’and ‘unit asleep’ comment is what everyone has been referring to as a talk window. This is the time to have your Boony near the TV or setting him off with a tonegen (assuming you don’t all have ‘buggered boonys’ from pulling the batteries out!)

    -Boonie Authority
  94. Thank You Boonie Authority - Very Informative as usual !!!

    -Talk To Me Boon
  95. I’d like to fiddle with my Boony, but I am too scared I will bugger him up!

    -Shmoo
  96. Love this discussion so I figured I should contribute.

    I downloaded the boon.wav file on Tues 24/1 (during the active window) and played it to my Indiffernet Boony and hadn’t realised that media player was on continuous loop. Boony went rancid expelling many “Don’t bother chasing that one” comments on queue. But before I could turn off the loop, he uttered “You’re joking aren’t ya?” and he has been a “Mute Boony” ever since - even to boon.wav. He activated today (26/1) but has only said the usual opening comment and a random “Anyone seen my thongs?”.

    Could it be that Boony has an “Abuse of Service” protection mechanism programmed into him? Trigger him too many times within a window of time and he will get “pissed” and refuse to talk to you?

    I’m hopeful of an “eternity boony” activation tone to send him so that we can enjoy our Boonys forever.

    -Charlie Murphy
  97. Hi all,
    My boyfriend called the BOONAZA hotline which was via VB’s switchboard (not fosters!). They’ve offered to replace our mute boony and have guarenteed a talking boony.
    I hope that helps people with silent duds.
    I can’t wait to experience what everyone else has been talkinng about on this website

    -Chris
  98. i think boony is some sort of a cheap radio

    -cj
  99. I woke to a glorious morning this morning Australia day 2006, sat down to watch Mel and Kochie’s lamb BBQ then had my first can of VB at 7:40am (I sacrifice taste for the best country in the world … Australia on this special day)

    The now empty can of VB I placed on the edge of my coffee table and put D.Boon on his throne and faced him towards launceston sat back and got ready for an Australia day Boonanza !!!!!!

    It’s now 5:49pm and nothing, nothing I tell you !

    Could the talking boonie be in fact an Al Qaeda operative sent to destroy us ?

    -Twin Brother Darkness
  100. it’s now 8pm (26 jan) and boony has said all “timed” comments so far but other than that not much… has anyone had many comments from there boonies without counting the “timed comments?

    -Jase_34
  101. the vb logo with a blip was just on 8:55pm (AST-QLD) and nothing from my boony damn those boony dolls not even the code word

    -mr sandman
  102. mr speaker i’m very tempted to replace the triple (AAA) batteries in my boony, but i hope it doesn’t stuff up! but u said u noticed a difference in his comments. when would be the best time to change the batteries?

    -Jase_34
  103. Hey Jase, I replaced the batteries in my dead one and he’s been working like a champ (on time, said the codeword). If Boonie Authority is correct, And he’s been pretty dang good so far, then swapping them over shouldn’t cause a problem - but I’d swap it quick, so that he’s not out of time.

    I also found something cool during yesterdays match - there is a connection you can make to trigger boony during a talk window - he was chatting away like a mad man if I left the wire joined too! I’m going to solder on a push button and give it a test next match. Ill link to a picture of the connection points here when I get some spare minutes at lunch.

    I’ve been trying to figure out a way to force a “power on”, so we can turn him on anytime… but so far no luck.

    What still seems mysterious to me is that if you play the tone (or make the connection) boony will speak, but then after a bunch of comments will stop reacting for a while. Charlie Murphy suggested an “abuse of service” mechanism which sounds feasible, but it seems a bit random… any ideas?

    -Mr. Speaker
  104. which connection?????? please please
    my mexican BI-POLAR BOONIE could do with this treatment

    -mark
  105. There were a few spots on the board I found that triggered him. Here is the one I think I will solder to: circuitBoonyTrigger.jpg
    I can’t remember if that was the connection, or it was to the yellow arrow. Have a test though! I’ll confirm it next talk window!

    I’m also going to solder in an audio output connection, so I can plug him into my stereo!

    -Mr. Speaker
  106. After 5 games of Boony being silent. I replaced the batteries on Australia Day. He spoke one saying after an hour and then came to life. By accident I think I have come across a trigger. I was switching between the cricket and the tennis and anytime Maria Sharapova let out one of her almighty screams, boony would react with “Cracking Shot!” and “looks like he’s throwing pies”. Then about 5 times in a row he would say “Take a swing mate”.

    -Screech
  107. Has anyone else tried to change the batteries?…. any problems? I am tempted to give it a go but I thought Boonie Authority said it was sure to stuff it up if we open him….

    -Thai Boony
  108. I did a spectrum analysis of the boon.wav files, The two tones in this particular beep seem to be 6476 Hz and 7897 Hz…..for what it is worth.
    With regards to the secret reset, the missing S1 on the through hole side of the board looks suspicious. Try fitting a button here and see what it does. I can’t get away with pulling Boonie apart until after the series is over so this blog has been most informative…cheers SMP

    -Philip N
  109. thanks for the feedback ppl! yeah i think now i will definately change the batteries. and see what happens. i have been playing the tone generator alot and he does say alot of comments but i would like if boony would actually make special comments if there was a wicket, or good shot during the game… let u know how it goes!

    -Jase_34
  110. Got my Boony on Tuesday from E-bay and couldn’t try him out till the Australia Day game. He didn’t seem to react to much on the cricket, although he did say a few odd things during some adds. I hadn’t read any of this blog until just now (Friday evening), so I didn’t think to try a tone generator. However, I did think to plonk him next to my Jaycar Theremin just before last night’s game finished. He loved it! Couldn’t shut him up! I had created a Raving Boony. I reckon he went through his entire repertoire in the space of about 30 seconds. In particular, he mentioned that “very good pill” a number of times - by the way he was babbling, I think he’d had a few very good pills. Of course there’s always the come-down and now he’s shut up and gone to sleep it off. He’ll be right by Sunday.

    -Crackers
  111. hi,
    i think what someone needs to try is recording the cricket then replaying it with boony infront then you would find out if it was running on a timer or something. and also mine said quack quack quack when a wicket just fell. It wasnt a golden duck but he still must have known it was a wicket. He has done this twice.

    -Sean
  112. I changed the batteries in my boony (opening him up didn’t harm him) and went to http://www.nch.com.au/tonegen/ inputted values between 5000.00hz and 9000hz and he was talking like a mad man!!! Give it a try…

    -Nick C
  113. I taped the cricket and played it to boonie (the bleep’s that is) he just sat there like a stale bottle of piss. I can’t wait until sunday when the cricket is on. We have had him at work and so far he’s only said the standard timed comments. I worry that boonie may need new batteries, in fact I find myself worrying about boonie alot lately, I hope he’s alright.

    -Adam
  114. I woke my Boony! Though now i think I might have given him that disease where you age really quickly. I think Philip N may be right - If I multi-metered the connection I made to trigger Boony there was 0 volts. After I bridged the connection that is labeled “S1″ on the circuit board, I was getting 2.2volts (as I was during game times). I didnt leave it connected, just joined the two gold points, then unconnected it. I had been testing the circuit board all over, so Im not 100% sure it was that connection that woke him.

    About 2 hours later (12:45ish - 28/1) boony said “Get us a VB, the crickets about to start”! I didn’t get a talk window though, maybe because I pulled out the batteries to solder on my audio-out socket. Just then he said “Today’s codeword is VB” (x3) - has that one been?

    Back to testing….

    [update!] Yep, what ever I did woke him up today as if it were a usual match - a couple of “talk windows”, just went off to play totem tennis now. I suppose he wont do anything tomorrow though… Also, I soldered a normal rca output plug across the speakers, plugged it in to my stereo, and now have AMPLIFIED BOONY!

    -Mr. Speaker
  115. hmm,
    are you guys sure he says ‘PILL’?
    i always took that for ‘DEAL’!
    hence, thats a good deal, very good deal,
    since i dont watch the cricket, i thort that may be for a VB commercial or sumthin,,

    -xxkurtxx
  116. I’m pretty sure he says pill.

    -Shmoo
  117. Hi Mr Speaker

    Been keeping up to date regularly with your blog. Great stuff.

    Anyway on Friday 27th January, when there was no cricket on at all I came home around 4.50 pm AEST with my two kids and within about 5 seconds Boony started talking.

    Is this a strange new phenomena where maybe Boony can be triggered by noise/being left alone for a while?

    My Boony is a bit of a shy reserved type. He does speak every so often during the cricket, but usually not very loudly so we all look at each and say “What did Boony just say?” Same thing happened when we came home. We knew he said something but not what he said.

    Amazing little guy the Boon.

    -Gavin
  118. 27/1/06 after watching a couple of epsidoes of M*A*S*H so I could get some tips from Hawkeye and Pearce. I decided to open up my Boonie and replace the batteries.
    I made sure everything was ready and the battery replacement took under 10 seconds.

    An hour later he sprung to life and wanted to play table tennis, then all quiet until 12:30pm EDST today 29/1/06

    He has now said two things and seems to be on the road to recovery, he’s alive I tell you , alive

    -Twin Brother Darkness
  119. Mr Speaker,

    The codewords for each day so far are:

    Jan 13 - Bat
    Jan 15 - Ball
    Jan 17 - VB (maybe this is the date your Boonie thinks it is)
    Jan 20 - Cheers
    Jan 22 - Slab
    Jan 24 - Stubby
    Jan 26 - Thirsty
    Jan 29 - Legend

    Hopefully these dates will also serve as an indicator for anyone else who has a Boonie that has lost track of the right time.

    -Boonie Authority
  120. I used the Tonegen at 4:55PM today (29/1) with a sweep of 5000 to 9000hz and then 9000 back to 5000, and he uttered something to do with the pub twice in quick sucession. He has since not spoken, even at a VB ad prompt, but it’s only been 15 minutes. I might bring him back over to the PC soon and try again.

    -Adamantinus
  121. yeah i’ve tried tone gen a few times today and has not worked once. is it best to replace the batteries in a talk window?

    -Jase_34
  122. You were just a fraction early Adamantinus.

    Today’s Talk Windows are as follows:

    4:00 TB: Hey, get me a VB the cricket’s about to start
    4:30 8:00 Match time (EDST)
    4:45 TB: Is it time for a beer yet?
    5:00 5:50 Unit active
    5:25 TB: When’s the drinks break?
    5:50 TB: Got any nachos?
    5:50 6:45 Unit asleep
    6:15 TB: Hey, get me a VB the cricket’s about to start
    8:45 12:15 Match time (EDST)
    6:45 10:00 Unit active
    6:45 TB: Where’s me beer?
    7:50 TB: Anyone seen me thongs?
    8:55 TB: Where’s me beer?
    9:30 TB: Todays code word is “legend” (repeat x 3)
    10:00 TB: Random event phrase
    10:00 Unit asleep

    -Boonie Authority
  123. Try playing spider solitaire when boony is in a talk window!! Looks like he likes playing cards…

    -Jase
  124. Boony likes pokies, I took mine to the pub and he went nuts when the pokies were going off. I did get some rather strange looks.

    He went off today on a Virgin Blue flight (Syd-Melb) the air hostie asked me to turn him off. “Sorry Boony can’t be switched off, but he’ll have a VB”

    While the game is later today from Perth, mine woke up around lunch time and has been talking alot without the TV. Now back home he continues to say random things, but does not respond to the TV. I can trigger him with the wav file fine.

    -Tom
  125. I have played with the wav file, sometimes he responds, sometimes he doesn’t. He doesnt seem to react to the TV beeps!

    -Jim
  126. Hi Boonie Authority - Long time no speak …

    I just need a little more clarrification about that Talk Window. (even though now the topic is really about how we can hack our Boonies)

    “The time in between each ‘unit active’and ‘unit asleep’ comment is what everyone has been referring to as a talk window.”

    Are you certain this is correct ? To me, this implies that our Boonies should respond to tones right throughout this period of time…however, I believe that our Boonies dont actually do this, because I did not get my Boony to talk every single time I fired my normal range of tones at him; during the “unit active” and “unit asleep” times.

    Thus making Boony actually having separate Talk Windows within the active-asleep time frame.

    Please advise.

    -Talk To Me Boon
  127. I agree with TTMB. During the awake times, Boony will react to the wav file and the Tonegen, but only for about 30 seconds at a time, and not always the first time I tried. It seems to take about 4-6 minutes for Boony to react again, then he lasts another 30 seconds. Anyone else having this experience?

    Maybe this is a fitness issue, and Boony needs to work on his endurance.

    -Matt
  128. I recently took Boony on a 3 week tour around Europe.
    At 3am one morning in Rome, I was woken by Boony telling me that the cricket was about to start and that he needed a VB.The room was silent and no TV in sight.
    Tuned to channel 9 and near the TV my arse!
    He kept saying random comments during the day, which proves that Channel 9 are talking shit.
    He kept this wake up call routine everytime the cricket was on in Australia.

    -Andy G
  129. Boony was completely confused yesterday with the cricket in WA. Whoever had programmed him forgot about time zones because he was ready for his first beer at around 1:30 and was then ready to play table tennis at 10pm. I went out for most of the day but caught some wisdom in the night session (until ten when he pulled up stumps). While I was eating dinner he spoke eight times in around 20 minutes. None of which I could make out because he was too far away. The blips on the tv don’t always seem to set him off but he goes through talkative periods when he won’t shut up. there was an article about the technology in the Ssaturday Age and 9 aren’t lying that he needs to be infront of the telelvision if you want to get the most out of boony.

    -Adam
  130. Hello to all,

    I am an electronic Engineer from Melbourne.

    I have analysed several “Boonies”, and to put you all at ease, here are the technical “Boonie” facts:

    1) The memory chip you refer to is a 1K EEPROM which holds timer counts.
    2) The “black blob” holds the main cpu and the voice data
    3) Every 5mins he will read the memory.
    4) The right half of the circuit board is not powered up all the time, but when the cpu count equals the memory count, the circuitry will powerup and detect the presence of a tone. The width of the filter is variable, but the centre frequency of this tone is 8000Hz.
    5) If you remove the batteries he will reset to manufacture date. If you then press the “reset switch (s1)” he will power up for 5mins and then will read the memory forever. During this powerup time, you will need to code his cpu with a relative time in order to synchronise all boonies.

    Basically, don’t remove the batteries and then reset him, or he won’t work. I am working on the final piece of the puzzle, which is to work out the programming sequence. I have my boonie responding to either a pushbutton on his base, or normal tones, but as I have him connected to another MCU (microcontroller unit) he no-longer responds to the cricket times.

    Any questions, feel free to contact me at

    gatekeeper_man@hotmail.com

    Tim Smith

    -Tim
  131. Well done Tim. This has been a subject of technical speculation for a few days now and your analysis of the devices function seems to fit the speculations of myself and several Tech/Eng freinds of mine. Perhaps the next part of our speculations might be of interset…After a reset whilst waiting indefinatly for the time the only data input available seems to be the micrphone. Maybe the time is sent as an acoustic signal using the same data path as the control beeps. From a production perspective it is the only way I can see to synchronise a large number of Boonies at once.

    -Philip N
  132. it was only a mater of time before BOONY stopped looking at his wristwatch and took direction from a new board of selectors, well done TIM,your doing us proud ,keep up the good work.
    looking forward to your results ,BOONTASTIC !!!

    -mark
  133. Boony asked for a beer during a TAC commercial, but has only spoken a couple of times all up.

    -S-
  134. I’ve played the Boon.wav file through my headphones to my Talkin’ Boony and he reacts every time without fail! I did find that he would repeat himself if you played the wav file again within say 30 seconds of each other. Thanks to whoever supplied the Boon.wav in this post!

    -Matt
  135. After reading the thread and deciding that my Boonie had stopped on Thursday night, I thought it was a great idea to replace the batteries on Sunday evening. After replacing the batteries my boonie started going nuts. He did however at one stage during Sunday’s game utter “the codeword is thirsty” *3 (Jan 26th). Apparently it was supposed to be legend.

    Its now 6pm on 31st and he hasn’t said squat. I’m starting to think that Boonie’s batteries went dead on Thursday night, and it wasn’t until his change of batteries that he started working again. I now think that his timer must be out by three days. Maybe he’ll decide to crank up again tomorrow night (which he’ll think is the 29th)?

    -Dan
  136. I only got my boony yesterday, he spoke up regarding the start of play at 1:10pm this afternoon, even when the game didn’t start until 4:30pm. Then at 6:45pm he asked for another beer because the cricket was about the start again. He must be of the quiet generation as he wont respond to Boon.wav or the tone generator.

    -Mitch
  137. what is todays code word? (31 jan) boony just said today’s code word is bat! that was ages ago i thought???

    -Jase_34
  138. so did mine! I thought i may have had a loony boony!

    -Mitch
  139. Yep Mine said bat 3 times around 7.15 Adelaide time 31/Jan

    -Marty
  140. got bat 3 times bout 7ish in vic,
    can i give BOONY beer though an intravenous drip coz mine wants to break his old 52 can record !!!!!!

    -mark
  141. Just to add to the debate I have found two other things that set boonie off, a squaky door knob and an oven timer. At first I thought the door knob was just coincidence until I had 3 boonies. The first one was a quiet one and didn’t say much anyway but when 2 more came home every time I went to the garage through the door with the squeaky knob the new ones mainly would would go off. The other day when the oven timer went off they were at it again. Obviously it is a response to the particular frequency that sets them going. This only happens during a game though, not any other time.

    -Den
  142. my 15 month old daughter can squeel durring the game and set him chatting,so she squeels at him talking. taswegian doll and a baby having a conversation is a crack up !!!!!!!!!!!!

    -mark
  143. An update on the reverse Boongineering,

    Firstly, thankyou for all your support, I have given Mr Speaker some information on some modifications to your Boony that connect an LED to indicate when a “talk window” is active. Also, to all those who have asked, it is not possible to fire him up whenever without extra hardware. I am working on this so that all Boony fans can cherish this witty toy forever.

    The Boony that I was testing had a loose connection, the data path from the memory was loose and therefore after a reset he would ask for data, but not get any. I rectified this last night and sped him up by a factor of 37. Every 8 seconds he read his memory instead of 5min. I had him like this for about 1/2 hour (about 18 hours normal time) but he didn’t power up with a “talk window”. I am still working on the programming sequence so that he thinks that a game is on as soon as he powers up, but I need a faster interface to speed him up further as I don’t know what the manufacture date was.

    -Tim
  144. hmmm is the cricket on today? wed 1st feb?
    my boon just said. ‘wheres me beer’
    i checked the TV and looks like no cricket is on today???
    the only time ive tinkered is taking the 4 corners screws out and having a look inside. that was about 2 weeks ago, , i didnt change the batteries and it has been working great ever since,

    -xxkurtxx
  145. hmm working great ever since? i dont mean it wasnt working before i unscrewed it,. i meant that its like i never unscrewed it, this is the 1st time hes said anything on a non cricket day.. it was on yesterday was it not?

    -xxkurtxx
  146. MY BOON TALKED! Wheres me beer? was the greatest line i have ever heard from anything….best ever. Can’t wait till the crickets on and he says some stuff! GO RANDOM BOONY!

    -dougs
  147. kurt we must have one of those interconnected boonies…great minds think alike here.. lol

    -dougs
  148. yes mine said “where’s my beer” as well, i though it was so strange! haha

    -Jase_34
  149. yeah it freaked me out at first as i only recieved it 2 hours before and wasnt expecting much. But had it next to the computer and BAM! he blurted it out, hilarious stuff. i wish he was random 24 hour boony, itd be awesome.

    -dougs
  150. hmm something esle that was said here a while ago, i havent seen someone say its working now, BUT the desktop boony on the VB page now works,,
    http://www.cricket.com.au/?s=boonanzadownloads
    i eagerly installed it thinking its gunna play with my talking boony, woohooo, com’on download faster, ahh yes install install.!!!
    and what is it,, looks like some damm virtual girls rip off. thou thankfully he dont get undressed, but yes looks like he just swings a bat, and such and such, booooring, me want a 24 hour random boon,

    -xxkurtxx
  151. the desktop boony just keeps u up to date with the latest news and stuff

    -Jase_34
  152. mine also asked for a beer about 4pm aest
    must be a programing glitch [not so perfect boony]
    i also have only pulled the four corner screws looked ,said sh*t,put him back together,never to be opened till we can trick up the circuit OR the crickets over!!!

    -mark
  153. Hi all - There are a few Talking Boony projects brewing now - mostly started from stuff everyone has sent in.

    1. The Reverse Boonjaneering Project: Hack your Boony with love and a soldering iron - started by Tim.
    2. The Talking Boony Gallery: Got a good photo of the plastic champ? Send it to mrspeaker@gmail.com - started by Tom with some cracker Australia Day photos - I’ll get this up soon.
    3. The Difinitive list of Boonerisms - Elizabeth has send in this request - I’m sure we are the bunch to provide such a document. Send everything you hear him say to mrspeaker@gmail.com - List up soon.

    -Mr. Speaker
  154. My boony was very subdued, he asked for a monte carlo once and I got it for him in a vain attempt to please the boony gods, otherwise he just looked at me, I looked at him. I drunk more beer. Then after watching my fair share of RPA I thought I would tinker with his ticker, I tested my voltage output and it was only supplying 0.9v. So I did wat any boony doctor would do and decided to change the batteries! My blood was pumping, the sweat was running and so was the timer, with steady hands I removed his dud life blood and inserted the fresh stuff………. I look at him… he looks at me, he doesnt ask for a monte carlo anymore, or beer so I drunk it on his behalf. Even though he did not say much to begin with it was still more than what he says now. I would not recommend taking the batteries out, but please PLEASE find a way to restore him to his former glory oh boon engineers, for the love of all that is boonific. It is now in YOUR hands. thank you.

    -Sorry Boony
  155. Think I may have found a way to keep Boonys talk window open on demand; which means using the wire link/switch project - CREATES A PUSH BUTTON BOONY!

    I posted it in the Reverse Boonjaneering link (2 posts above)

    -David (Boon) Tenace
  156. You little rippa, solder on!

    -Sorry Boony
  157. Doh! Tim said that forcing open the talk window wont work.

    I’ll be content for now to have “Boony on demand” for game days…

    -David (Boon) Tenace
  158. i was watching stargate sg1 and atlantis and my boony talked of course this was on tuesday this week IE 31jan06 and in those two show the teams where at a battle and where using keyboards and pressing buttons and this to bilps sounded and he said “SHOT” and “that aint worth it” and something about “watermelons” not sure about that but that was funny anyways!@

    -mr sandman
  159. After my Boonie ‘welcoming’ me home on a non-cricket day I decided to crack upon the Temple of Boon and replace his batteries. The swap took less than a minute but then the great man was silent during the next one-dayer (not that he spoke much before hand).

    Yesterday I switched his batteries back to the original AAAs shipped and still nothing.

    Then, amazingly at 6 AM (AEST) this morning (2 Feb, another non cricket day) Boonie clear as day says “Where’s me beer?”

    About 90 minutes later I was throwing the tone generator at him going from 5000 to 9000 and back to 5000. Still nothing. I gave in to defeat only for my kids to proclaim 30 minutes later (about 8.10am) that Boonie just talked. And then all of a sudden he shot out two more comments (but maybe this because of the weird sounds coming on ABC Kids’ “Save ‘Ems”). I then parked myself next to Boon and he went silent only ten minutes later for him to say “Quack, quack, quack”.

    I can only guess that swapping the batteries back and around has done something to his ‘window’ which now thinks cricket is played early in the morning.

    That’s unbelievable!

    -Gavin Oz
  160. Tim: Did you say you have a seperate MCU connected to your boonie? From what I can work out after removing the epoxy (and sacrificing the micro underneath) the chip must have an onboard DAC as the speaker is driven directly from the chip. You’d have to assume that the 24C01 would hold all of boonies quotes, when read it would provide a digital form of his quote to the processor which then runs it through a DAC to the speaker. My plan is to connect a PIC to the EEPROM and read and store its data so we can then feed this through our own DAC, allowing us to have Boony speak all his quotes. From there the possibilities are endless! I can’t see a lot of point in keeping the analogue circuitry for the “beep” drive, as once the cricket is finished I doubt we’ll hear those tones again. We just need a reasonable input trigger and we can resurect our boonies for ever!

    -Wal
  161. Wal,

    I think you may have miss-understood the now venerable Tim’s posting on his initial investigations. The 24C01 is a 1K EEPROM and only contaians the date and times for the start and (perhaps) finish of each game in the season. The data for the actual message sounds seems to be stored in the uP (Under the black blob). The EEPROM is just not big enough and that would have made things too easy ;) If you could read the content of the EEPROM from a dead board all you could determine would be those times. If you then could determine the structure of the time stamp you could re-write the EEPROM with new dates and then refit it to a working board during the 5 min period when the uP is inactive, you might resurect him for those dates. Now that sounds challenging…..
    Cheers

    -Philip N
  162. What tha? Boony just said “Where’s me beer? I’ll drink to that! They’re seeing ‘em like watermelons!” One after the other, with not a second between them…

    -Shmoo
  163. Can’t wait to see the Talking Boony Gallery!

    -Thai Boony
  164. heres my files that activate boony that i recorded from STargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis

    http://members.iinet.net.au/~skocsis/sg1_boony.wav
    http://members.iinet.net.au/~skocsis/sga_boony.wav

    tell me if it works for you

    !!warning they are a bit load!!

    -mr sandman
  165. OK, after conversing with Twin Brother Darkness, here’s my theory - agree or disagree as is your want.

    I believe that our Boonies were all activated in some fashion or other with an initial bleep from the TV. This might well explain how all the Boonies are synchronized given the monumental task of trying to have all the little fellas in one room (that’d be a photo to treasure) and synchronizing with one giant bleep.

    It’s obvious our Boonies keep some kind of time mechanism to ensure the correct code word is given for each day. We might call this Boonie time instead of Epoch. This time keeping is probably a little sketchy but I’ll run with it.

    From what I can gather, voltage levels have a lot to do with how Loony our Boonies are. As the Power of Boon begins to drop, he seems to get less loony and becomes Indifferent Boonie. We seem to have found from our electronic guru friends that Indifferent Boonie becomes Quite Boonie when voltage levels get down to around 0.9V and finally becomes a Dead Boonie when the little chap finally pull up stumps.

    As Twin Brother Darkness (and several others) have replaced their Boonie Lifeblood, we suddenly have a Reanimated Boonie and away he goes. It seems after the life saving operation, his time mechanism gets reset as people have reported different code words and talk windows that relate back to events surrounding the beginning of the series.

    Is it possible that we all have a hidden Eternity Boonie inside our Likeness of Boon. Could it be as simple as replacing his Power of Boon to reset his timer and bring him back to the beginning of the VB series of 2006? It seems all that is required after a battery change is the right “bleep”, and bingo - back to the beginning.

    In my mind, the fact that our little mates only talk to us every second or third day is brilliant. I will never get sick of hearing from him and I know I will always look forward to the little champ waking up again.

    Eternity Boonie for us all? I think so!

    -Charlie Murphy
  166. I love my boonie I have managed to get 5 now and I am going to build a memorial a memorial to this little piss tank.
    I would love to organize a “talking boonie picnic” where everyone brings their boonie and drink homage to this 4″ fellow.

    -DAVE MIDDLETON
  167. i agree we should all put our boonies together for some big event and make him all talk like here in brisbane lets all get together at southbank on a sunday and hav a drink sulate to our boonie and chat about some loonie boonies during the season

    any one interested???????

    anyone try out my sounds abovew????

    -mr sandman
  168. i was just sitting next to boonie, with the tele off, and he informed me he “needed a beer”, and that “the cricket was about to start”. He’s alive!!!!!
    05/02 13:30

    -mat
  169. Boony fails to respond to the noise through the TV. However, I can connect my laptop up to my stereo, and play the boon.wav file, and he wakes up and turns into Boony-On-Demand! I can get him to respond to the beeps through my TV upstairs if it’s loud enough…but doing so you don’t hear what Boony says due to the noise levels of the TV. Must be a quite responding boony!

    -Mitch
  170. Well my boony says only what he is pre programmed to do. On the odd occasion strange things make him say stuff like the bell in a dog chew toy or the noise of him being pulled of the top of a VB. But the boon.wav and the tone gen files cant get a peep out of him. Mutey Boony.

    -Drunkenbushman
  171. I have tried “Project 3: Make him talk when he’s awake” from the reverse Boonjaneering page. Works perfect!!! I bought a push button switch from Dick Smith’s, and it fit perfectly into Boony’s mick hole. Once I installed longish wires as directed, positioned the switch in the mic hole and put him back together, he was CUSTOM BOONY! Now my custom Boony will talk (during a “talk window”) on demand, at a push of a button.

    A “long” press of the button and he’ll say a “random” beer/food comment (such as “Nachos, I like Nachos”, or “Hows that beer going”, or “When are we going to the pub?”…etc)

    Short flicks on the switch and he says batting and bowling comments (like “How is that?”, “Dont bother chasing that one”, “He’s seeing them like watermelons”, “Looked out from here ump”…etc.

    I have noticed that the random comments aren’t that random. The comments for the three different events (Batting, bowling and food/beer) only change every couple of minutes or so. So when I continually hit the “long press” on my CUSTOM BOONY, I will hear the same beer/food comment over and over again. Same goes for batting and bowling comments.

    He still responds to tones, however, the push button switch is positioned in the mic hole, so I had to turn it up a fair bit for him to “hear” the tone.

    All in all, I highly recommend “Project 3: Make him talk when he’s awake”. Take the annoying tones out of YOUR Boony’s life forever!

    -DPOK
  172. Fired up Boony during a game, although I was at work away from TV.
    Using the tones 6000-8000 Boony said the following:
    He’s seein em like watermelons
    O thats a good pill, very good pill
    He’s throwing down pies
    On your way son
    Is it time for a beer yet?
    Have a swing mate

    Then he went silent, and hasn;t spoken since :(

    -BUzza
  173. Whoops! he’s alive again.. this time he followed up with:

    I feel like playing table tennis
    Thats gone in my book
    Got any nachos, I love nachos
    Don’t bother chasin that
    Show us a replay of that
    Pass me a biscuit please, monte carlo would be nice!

    -BUzza
  174. It can’t run on audible sounds because my boony speaks in my room, when the TV isnt even on… It must be timed, or recieves reception of some sort from channel 9..

    -Nick
  175. I found that with the tone generator I could only get Boony to speak about 6 times in succession, then he’d shut up. So we tried Project 3 and installed a pushbutton. Same thing. The pushbutton will fire him off about 6 times and after that he won’t speak for the next hour or so. The batteries were giving 4.1v so I’ve changed them for new batteries giving 4.6v, but still the same thing. I reckon he’s programmed not to talk too much.

    -David Hogg
  176. I’m not sure how this works with the competition. My boony told me just now that today’s code word is ‘cheers’, although my desktop boony says that today’s code is ‘VB’??????

    -BUzza
  177. buzza
    your boony lost it somewhere,my boony told me its VB
    have you tricked out your boony???

    -mark
  178. ps all,
    just found this info,may or may not help
    200,000 talking boonys
    37 quotes
    @ http://smh.com.au/text/articles/2005/12/09/1134086812393.html

    -mark
  179. I think Channel Nine missed an oportunity this week announcing Eddie as the new boss. Surly Boonie should have been given the job.
    This liitle piss tank is now destined to take over Benauds job as the head of Commentry Box. Who cares about the Jonnie Walker Trivia or the KFC classic catches I just want to hear Boonie the 5′2″ Tasmanian man who made bat pad his own.
    “Any one seen my thongs!”

    -DAVE MIDDLETON
  180. Does anyone know if Boony will talk through the optional 3rd final???

    -DPOK
  181. HAs anyone recorded the boony sayings? I’ve been working at it, these are the ones I have so far. If there’s any I’ve missed, would love to know.

    1. Oh that’s a good pill, very good pill
    2. Brings a tear to me eye
    3. Anyone seen me thongs
    4. How’s that beer going
    5. That’s gone in my book
    6. He’s seeing em like watermellons
    7. He’s throwing down pies
    8. On your way son
    9. Have a swing mate
    10. Is it time for a beer yet
    11. Todays code word is “Legend”
    12. Shades of Boony
    13. I feel like playing totem tennis
    14. You’re joking aren’t ya
    15. I’ll drink to that
    16. Have you got a pool table
    17. Good nut
    18. quack, quack, quack
    19. Looked out from here ump
    20. Nice
    21. Got any nacho’s? I like nacho’s
    22. Show us a replay of that
    23. Pass us a biscuit please. A monte Carlo would be nice
    24. When are we going to the pub?
    25. Shooooot
    26. Don’t bother chasing that
    27. Where’s me beer?
    28. I can bowl better than that
    29. When’s the drinks break?

    -Wal
  182. Tim or somone who knows post me where to solder in an LED to indicate when Mr Boon bastic is in the window. either post up a link or send it to me at toddpalm@bigpond.net.au

    -Supertailz
  183. Wal, boony definately says “crackin shot”

    -Jase_34
  184. Boony will be active during the third final but is not programmed to speak with the timer chip. He will have an active talk window for most of the day and should react to any triggers in the cricket telecast or during VB ads. Similarly, he should also react to the tone gen…for the last time, unless you have made some modifications.

    -Boonie Authority
  185. cheers Boonie Authority
    but what does the timer chip do after the last day
    does it go to forever talk with tones, or DEAD!(AAAARRGH)

    -mark
  186. My Boony spoke just now during a Ford Ad I have foxtel IQ so I stopped the broadcast and rewound it he spoke 4 times at the same spot when the kid rung the bike bell, he did it during last weeks games as well

    -Marty
  187. My Little Mute Booney has never reacted the the bleeps that are auposed to make him talk, but during the 2nd semi final when i was leaving the girl friends house to go home n watch the rest of the game the squeek of the front screen door made him speak. I got him to say about 10 lines with the swing of a front door. Then she came out to see what i was doing and he stopped. But it was gold acctually making booney talk. When i got home i tried my front door but alas it did not squeek so i found a butter knife sitting on the coffee table and hit it on the side of that table so as to make a vibrating noise and that made him talk about 5 times in 30 min ( yes i hit the kinfe on the table for 30 min). I think its very odd that a screen door that squeeks and a butter knife finally got my Booney speaking but the tone gen n the VB bleeps didnt.

    -Drunkenbushman
  188. This is it, Boony’s last opportunity to tell the Lanki’s that they’re “throwing down pies”, “don’t bother chasing that” and how much he likes Nachos. So today, Boony and I are taking half a day off work, and heading to the wonderful GABBA. Together we will tell the Sri Lankians a whole range of ‘catchy’ phrases. Long live the Boon…

    -DPOK
  189. My Talking Boony has gone off during Futurama and also during the Mitsubishi Car Ads.

    Been watching the cricket today for about 30 mins and no talking from Boony and no bips from the TV set.

    -xpfalcon
  190. OK, after about an hour and a half, he’s awake.

    -xpfalcon
  191. It’s just after 10:30 afer the third final, and my Boony is still responding to tones. A good sign?

    -Nick
  192. Alas, farewell sweet Boon…we had many fond moments together…

    -Shmoo
  193. R.I.P Boony. 14/02/06. You will be missed.

    -Damo
  194. Wal, maybe some of the other quotes were the other codewords? I didn’t get my Boony till the day of the third and final final (was in mail en route to Canada) but can tell you that he perked up as soon as he came out of the box with a “When are we going to the pub?” which brought so, so, sooo much happiness to a displaced aussie. He squawked something else a bit later, but I didn’t catch it. The one comment I heard was perfect, but if anyone stays on this and finds a way to control the Boony, let us all know eh? Cheers!

    -ozNoz
  195. Anyone wishing to pay respects to the talking munchkin, head over to the homage to Boon: A Boon To Mankind… God speed Boonjaneerers..

    -Mr. Speaker
  196. just got mine today, damn

    will i ever hear him?

    -fuzz
  197. Is that it??? All over? Has anyone experienced a resurrection Boony? It has been three days already!!

    -Thai Boony
  198. Well maybe next season VB can bring out a special 52 can carton they can call “the boon” a homage to this 5′2″ piss tank with a talking boonie that counts down the amount of stubbies to go to even near the record of a thirsty Tasmanian. R-I-P BOONIE 2006

    -DAVE MIDDLETON
  199. Rumour has it next year we will get a Richie doll!!!

    -Bear
  200. That would be awesome! Marvellous shot that.

    -Shmoo
  201. my boony wont bloddy talk and been waiting for god no’s how long to get 1 i finally do and its the end of the v.b series if any 1 can find some v.b series videos can you just paste the link thanks. (or if any 1 can tell how to make him talk)

    -no name
  202. can sum 1 plz respond asap

    -no name
  203. Sorry sir/mam - your Boony is good as dead. No ones Boony talks post-series. Your hopes rest on Tim and the Team of Reverse Boonjaneerers. But even if its figured out, its probably going to mean taking a soldering iron to our beloved Boons.

    (P.S. I figured out your code… 1 = one!)

    -Mr. Speaker
  204. Boony can talk!

    He requires some re-programming, but he can still talk!

    -Tim
  205. a great job tim ,you have a resurection boon,and just after easter at that ,is this a sign from the great beer tap in the sky that so lovingly driped life into him,
    LONG LIVE RESURECTION BOON

    -mark
  206. wow today is the 29th of april and my boony started talking at 6AM sharp this morning, and kept going until midday then stopped

    did this happen to ayone else? weird..

    -luke
  207. Luke,

    From my investigations, Boony can run for about 16 weeks then he is programmed to stop. Seems like your’s has suffered a glitch (or is drunk!!). It must be re-looping. What was the code-word? Check the next code-word with that posted above, this will give you an idea of where he thinks he is.

    -Tim
  208. 7:14am on the 7/5/2006 (bloody early on a Sunday)

    Both my Boony’s woke up and said the cricket was about to start!

    -Tom Lohdan
  209. Both of them are going nuts, randomly talking with 4-5 different quotes per talk session

    -Tom
  210. My Boony said
    7:17am 7-5-06 Get me a VB the crickets about to start
    8:17 Same day “is it time for a beer yet

    -troutbloke
  211. boonie is talking again!! he has said 3 things to me this morning. the cricket isnt about to start??

    -adi
  212. 7/5/06 9:30am sunday,
    and my Boony is asking for a beer as well!
    he is responding to the ‘